The Letter "R"

Standing at 'attention' and talking about what it means to 'rejoice'. Even Seth followed suit. :)

Tonight's Family Time verse was...

Phil. 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always."

Michelle and I discussed that it is very important to learn how to rejoice when it is tough, not just when it is fun. Chip Ingrim said parents should teach their kids that suffering is normal but God is good. This is a great Christian paradox that only makes sense in the cross.

We went to the back yard for an since it was beautiful outside. A neighbor girl wanted to come over so she joined our family time. After our verse memorization, we discussed the verse a little bit. How can we rejoice in the Lord always? Dad told the kids that Josiah would have a turn first. Immediately, the complaining started. What's our verse again? "Rejoice in the Lord always." say the kids. "Even when it's not your turn?" says Dad. "Yes" say the kids. Each kid took a turn running an obstacle course. After each turn we discussed the ways we rejoiced while the other kid was taking their turn. This activity was very fun!

The next activity was to go for a short bike ride. Before family time, Dad sneeked into the garage and deflated the tires. So, the kids ran excitedly to their bikes and hopped on like they do every day. Josiah's bike could not really go at all. The neighbor girl's bike would turn left due to the loose tire. Alayna was too light for the effect. Now, could Josiah and the neighbor girl rejoice with bikes that did not work? Michelle and I discussed how to do this while Alayna made her way down the sidewalk. There was no whining and even a glimmer that they understood it a bit.

The third task was a special one for Josiah. I had a cement block in the yard and asked Josiah to pick it up and carry it about 15 feet then turn around and come back. It was too heavy for him to carry so he rolled, kicked, slid, and pulled it across the yard. As he was struggling, Michelle and I were coaching him how to rejoice through hard work. At one point, I helped him pick up the block and he got scraped. At first, I thought I ruined the lesson because he was crying. However, Josiah pointed out that Jesus had to rejoice while he was being hurt on the cross. Josiah and I carried the brick back into the garage. Michelle and I were very proud of him.

Then to finish it off we went to Dairy Queen and rejoiced in God's gift of ice cream!!